Well, we seem to have hit that “4-year jinx” with Rosie the bus. Lots of little knick-nacky things breaking down or going wrong. We had a terrible issue with gray tank odors permeating the interior, especially when we drive down the road with anything in the tank. We already addressed the vent caps as far as sealing the threads, but to no avail. So, we spun the wheel and took our chances, guessing that maybe it was the Hepvo trap under the kitchen sink. One quick order through Amazon and, bingo, one new trap. After the swap out it appears we have no more issue with odors. The old trap was pretty beat up, the rubber bladder inside looked mangled. A $30 fix to save us another couple hundred dollars in Mobil RV service calls. Next, we picked up a leak under the kitchen sink. Trying to access the pipes there is an interesting endeavor, with all the hoses zip tied and then having to dismantle drawers & cabinets. But I overcame my “handyman incompetence” and located a small hole pinched into the flex drain hose. A $10 fix which again saved me several hundred dollars in mobile RV service calls, whew! But the capper to all was the reason we had to change plans for the 7,492th time and terminate our Idaho stay a bit early. I found the outside skin of one of our big slides was getting chewed up by contact with the 3 rollers upon which the slide operates. Crap! Since we are nearing our time to return to CA for medical appointments and family holiday times, we decided to head back to Elite RV Repairs in Harrisburg, OR. I called Eric there and he put me at ease in that the fix would not cost me an arm & a leg, nor would take much time to remedy. So Oregon, here we come, again!

The white piece is the Hepvo trap. Gotta be a contortionist to get your arm and hand in there to remove and replace…

The skin damage under my slide.

More skin damage…

My water leak was underneath the white flex drain pipe, had to find it by braille, after removing the frame for the drawer…

Our stay in ID was a tad more than 5 weeks. In keeping with our past practices, we found Boise sponsors a Boise Ale Trail. Well, son of a gun, don’t mind if we do! 20 breweries participating and after sampling some of their offerings, my favorite was an Oatmeal Carmelita Stout by Barbarian Brewing. Jeanne preferred the Mexican Lager by White Dog Brewing. As usual, the Boise Ale Trail gave us the opportunity to get a self-guided tour of the Treasure Valley area.

Some of Payette Brewing Co.’s offerings. Goes with my personal motto…If you can see through the beer, it is not worth your time or taste buds…

Words to live by…

Working on my admission to the Twelve Step Program at RAM Brewery.

Boise Brewing Co. offerings. Can you guess which 3 Jeanne will be tasting and which 3 will be mine?!?

At Western Collective, purveyor of Guns & Oil American Lager, I seem to have made a friend. It only took throwing the tennis ball once…

Table Rock is a local sight to see, overlooking the downtown area of Boise with a sweeping view of the Treasure Valley. The only “bad” was that visitors to Table Rock have a tendency to leave adonation of their personal graffiti, such a shame for an otherwise scenic rock formation.

Jeanne feeling a little adventurous. Don’t forget, Jeanne. There are old adventurers, and there are bold adventurers. But there are NO old, bold adventurers!

The cross on top of Table Rock, overlooking the valley.

Downtown Boise, from Table Rock.

“There I was, deep in the cavern…” Sad to see graffiti…

We still have been getting some of this smoke, it is starting to get old.

Jeanne clowning around amongst the graffiti covered rocks.

While in Boise we took a walk around the downtown area and the capitol building. It was nearly abandoned, their house is out of session until January. The marble interior is beautiful and the exterior is consistent architectural-wise with most domed capitols that we have seen. We stumbled upon The STIL, a unique downtown ice-cream shop. They also sell beer & wine and offer “flights” of both ice-cream and adult beverage of choice for simultaneous tastings. It’s gotta be the goofiest pairings I ever tried, we did 4 beers & 4 ice-cream flavors. And to top that off, they had several ice-creams that were infused with alcoholic beverages. I will admit, I was not impressed, ice-cream and beer do not mix well for me. That even ruined my tasting of a whiskey barrel aged Deschutes Black Butte Porter. Yucky yucky yucky!

Sights of downtown Boise.

More downtown, looking toward the Capitol.

Still more downtown.

P.F. Chang’s two horses…

The Capitol building in Boise, ID.

A look up the front porch.

Profile shot of the dome.

Fancy marble interior.

Looking up the dome…

A Sea Coast Gun, 42 pounder used during the Civil War at Vicksburg and donated to the state of ID in 1910. It now stands guard on the front lawn…

Lower level marble.

Cool old mailbox inside the Capitol.

Welcome to The STIL.

“What’ll it be?”

Beer and ice-cream. Goes together like fire and water!

Pick a flavor.

Close to our home at Hi Valley RV Park we found the Ada County Bike Park. This was a mountain with numerous downhill bike runs and a BMX course at the base of the mountain. The park is popular with hikers as well, with a trail across the peak of the mountain which gives more sweeping views of Treasure Valley. We used this park several times to give Woody a little exercise.

A cutie walking up the trail to the top of the mountain at the Ada County Bike Park.

Looking down into the Treasure Valley. The BMX track is at the base of the mountain.

They did a good job of marking all the different bike runs, kinda like a ski mountain.

Several days we had to put up with yet again more smoke. Here’s the smoke covered valley from the top of the mountain.

A lot of the locals suggested we see the town of McCall, so we loaded up Woodrow Wilson and did a day trip. It is about 100 miles north of Boise on Hwy. 55, a little state highway that travels along a good portion of the Payette River. The scenery was very nice and when we got to McCall, it reminded us of a small scale Tahoe. McCall is a little ski resort town on Payette Lake. When we got there they just happened to be having their local Farmer’s Market going on. That had to be the s-m-a-l-l-e-s-t farmer’s market I ever saw! We did a walkabout, had lunch at a local pizzeria, and sampled the fare at a couple of the local breweries. The McCall Brewing Co. had a Wobbly Man Smoked Scotch that was a tasty ale, as was their Devious Intent Imperial Stout. The Salmon River Brewery was unimpressive as far as their beer goes, but the view was nice.

On the road to McCall, along the Payette River.

More Payette River

Rough rapids on the Payette River.

McCall’s Farmer’s Market.

Yak meat for sale!

This was pretty much the bulk of the market.

A view across Payette Lake at one of the ski mountains.

Another look at the lake.

Imagine all this snow covered. Brrrrrrrrr!

Welcome to the Salmon River Brewery.

Nice light inside the restaurant/bar.

Our view from our table at Salmon River Brewery.

Welcome to the McCall Brewing Co.

McCall’s offerings.

We’re gonna taste us some brews.

McCalls did have a tasty Devious Intent Imperial Stout!

Jim & Stacy Camara had turned us on to the Big City Coffee shop in downtown Boise, so we made one last return trip for breakfast. The place is truly a “hole in the wall”, and seating can be a problem when busy. But man oh man bring your appetite with you! The breakfasts are gigantic, as are the baked goodies! I think this was the first time we ever had to box up the left overs from a breakfast!